OCS superintendent, staff to figure out makeup day

With school on Saturday off the table, the Orange County school board is letting Superintendent Gerri Martin and her staff look for other options to make up March 18.

Icy conditions closed Orange County Schools for students on the March 18, the fourth day missed that month because of weather. The deficiency in hours is only at the middle school level.
The board approved allowing Martin and her staff to come up with a way to make up the lost middle school time without having to come back to them for approval.
“Once the details are worked out by staff, parents will receive a communication detailing the makeup plan,” Martin said in a press release.
That absence left spring break, a Saturday, Good Friday and Memorial Day as options to make up the lost time.
“We are at a point where we will need to recover some hours to meet state legislation,” Martin said. “We are below the 1,025 hours required.”
It was suggested that minutes be added to the day but “shared buses is a concern plus 15 minutes adds time but not true instructional time,” Martin said.
Board discussion revealed that they did not want to approve any of the available days or a Saturday to make up the lost time.
“Whatever we can do to be creative, let’s do it,” said board member Stephen Halkiotis. “Let’s figure out something reasonable.”
Board Member Anne Medenblik suggested the use of virtual school to allow middle school students to make up the lost time without impacting the elementary and high schools.
OCS staff advised that they were not sure if that was a viable option for this situation but it would be investigated further as a future option.